I am excited about this one, because I found a wooden crate at Savers a few months ago for 5 bucks and change. You could easily make this crate out of scrap wood as well. It's a fun and unexpected addition to the room.

Hit up your electrician for those empty spools, wrap it in some cute, thrifted fabric and you have an eclectic side table. Spray paint a little birdie gold and perch it a top an old book to complete the look.

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My husband was absolutely giddy about grunting over these hooks. Can you imagine the garage or workshop with these puppies on the walls? Manly hooks. The toolbox might just be missing some spare tools soon.

1.08.2012

Here are the spoils of yesterday's bountiful basket. We got a standard basket plus an Italian vegetable pack. Including the handling fee of $1.50, all of this yummy produce cost only $25. I was so exited to see all the fresh herbs in the Italian pack. Shortly after taking this picture, my kids gobbled up all the blackberries, and half the grapes.

Tonight for dinner my daughter Ellie helped me make a yummy pasta salad using the tomatoes and fresh basil. We made a balsamic dressing, using some of the fresh oregano, to toss in.

We also made a super yummy vegetable spread by sauteing onions, mushrooms, zucchini, and garlic in olive oil. Bountiful baskets has fantastic organic 9 grain bread that I stock up on.

Ellie is only 4 years old, but wants to chop and stir and help with everything. My mom gave me a manual food processor for Christmas so she can help chop things up for me safely.

We all make them...and try to keep them for at least a day, right? They usually involve losing weight, eating better, early to bed, early to rise, spend less, save more, yada yada yada. My husband and I have a running joke about our resolutions at the new year: Diet 2012!....then we fall off the wagon and start Diet 2012 v2.0.....whoops, did I just eat a whole bag of chocolate.....Diet 2012 v3.0....and so on. We usually get to v7.0 by the end of January. :) Sadly, we are probably on Diet 2012 v12.0, which starts tomorrow (because it always starts tomorrow). There's always Chinese New Year on the 23rd, right? This year, I want to:

Oh, the rain! This has some hidden meaning to it. I don't like to get my hair wet when it's not washing day. I also don't like to fail, so if I think it might happen, I quit. I am afraid of success. So, essentially I want to make it a goal this year to try my best not to give up and not to be afraid of succeeding or failing.

Drinking more water this year will be easier with the $.79 stainless steel water bottle that I scored at 90% off.

1.04.2012

Not having enough time or energy to make over our fireplace this year (just like last year), I opted for a temporary fix.

I set out to slap something on the wall so I could hang the stockings over the fireplace.

I found these rusty metal corbels (not in a junkyard) at Rodworks for a few bucks each, gathered up an armful of scrap wood from the garage, and plopped down in front of the TV for some hulu.

I usually work alone at night, after putting the kids to bed. But this time, Paul was home sitting on the couch and was a bit shocked that I would drag all my supplies inside.

The man is handy. He does things the right way. I fake it till I make it. It works for me most of the time, but not when Paul is around to watch. We compromised (after me getting frustrated because he really does know what he is doing my way is always better).

None of the scrap wood was working for my shelf idea, so Paul suggested I use some of the old pallet wood that we had hanging out in the yard. With the aforementioned compromise, the shelf turned into a pretty good looking mantle if I do say so myself.

One evening in late November, our doorbell rang. The kids ran for the door to find a box. Inside the box was a special delivery from the North Pole. We sat down and discovered Christopher would bechillin' with the fam for the month of December! (Santa somehow used up a $10 credit to Amazon.com that I been given.)

All of December Christopher was busy popping from one high place in our house to the next. Every morning the kids had fun finding him. We said goodbye to him the night before Christmas as Santa took him home that night. We look forward to his visit next year!

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About Me

Welcome to the junkyard! You'll find us hanging out at junkyards, stopping in at thrift stores, consignment shops, garbage cans...Our basement is full of "junkyard" finds. We love to recycle, reuse, and take that junk and make it whimsy.